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Progressives lose a powerful champion – Tim Carpenter

Progressive Democrats of America co-founder Tim Carpenter with US Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) at the Progressive Democrats of America People’s Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 2012. Photo: Jimmy20036

Tim Carpenter, a progressive political and social activist, and founder of Progressive Democrats of America passed away on Monday after a long battle with cancer. He was 55-years-old.

For more than three decades Carpenter fought for progressive causes such as single payer health care, nuclear disarmament, campaign finance reform, peace, and economic and social justice. Carpenter was an organizer for the presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Gov. Jerry Brown in 1992. He also served as deputy campaign manager in Dennis Kucinich’s run for president in 2004. A national Democratic National Convention delegate, Carpenter addressed the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee and Resolutions Committee Co-Chair John Hanna convenes the Resolutions Committee of the California Democratic Party

We contacted his longtime friend, Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee, John Hanna for comment on Carpenters’ passing.

” I mourn the loss of my friend Tim Carpenter. Since we met in then California Secretary of State Jerry Brown’s campaign office in 1974, Tim has been an inspiration to me and to countless others for his dedication to social justice. He was like the Irish parish priest, always encouraging his flock of activists to have faith, to work harder, to follow the example of Jesus in his preferential option for the poor, and for those who worked within the system, he was our conscience, challenging our assumptions and warning us not to gain the world and lose our souls. He did it all full speed ahead, pedal to the metal, and with a smile, without the nasty and bitter rants of some who shared his political views. We are much better off as a people and as a nation because of Tim Carpenter. God blessed those of us who knew him and now God has to deal with the consummate inside-outside organizer in Heaven. Let us all give our love and comfort to Barbara and their daughters Sheila and Julia as the days go by and they struggle with their loss as we struggle with ours.”

Carpenter, lived in Florence, MA and is survived by his wife, Barbara Considine, and their daughters, Sheila and Julia.